Communications and education correspondent

Most of the job losses to come from Melbourne, and radio is expected to be affected. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

About 80 jobs at the ABC will go following the federal government’s decision to axe the Australia Network international broadcasting service.

The vast majority of the jobs will be lost in Melbourne, where the ABC’s Asia Pacific News Centre (APNC) is based. Staff working across TV and radio will be affected, including journalists, producers, technical and communications staff.

All the redundancies will be targeted with no voluntary redundancies on offer, ABC staff were told in briefings with ABC International CEO Lynley Marshall and news director Kate Torney on Monday.

Cutbacks ... ABC headquarters at Ultimo, Sydney. Photo: Peter Braig

ABC staff said they were "stunned" by the number of redundancies, which was more than had been expected.

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Although the government has axed funding to the Australia Network, the ABC plans to broadcast six hours a day of repackaged content into the Pacific under a new banner.

Staff expect to receive further details this afternoon on how radio and television services will be affected by the restructure. Some radio programs are likely to be targeted because of cross-subsidisation between the television and radio divisions.

The Australia Network contract was worth $223 million over 10 years. The ABC’s budget was also cut by $35 million in the May budget with further cuts expected following an efficiency study into its operations.

Community and Public Sector Union President Michael Tull said he was disappointed the ABC was using forced redundancies.

"The government has put the ABC in an impossible position, however we are very disappointed that up to 80 people will be sacked," he said.

"This is an appalling way to treat hardworking staff as they won’t have a say in whether they get to keep their jobs.

"We don’t accept the process of forced redundancies and we believe the ABC is in breach of its industrial obligations and we are considering the next step."